Man slain in daytime shooting

STOCKTON - Homicide detectives were still processing evidence on American Street as darkness fell Tuesday, hours after a 21-year-old man was gunned down near a central Stockton apartment complex.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - Homicide detectives were still processing evidence on American Street as darkness fell Tuesday, hours after a 21-year-old man was gunned down near a central Stockton apartment complex.

The man sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the neck and chest about 4:30 p.m. outside the Doyle Gardens apartment complex in the 600 block of American Street, authorities and witnesses said.

Paramedics performed CPR and rushed the victim to a hospital for treatment, but the man was pronounced dead a short time later, said Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department.

The victim's name was not released pending notification of family members, authorities said.

"I just saw him earlier today, just sitting out here like they always sit out here, not bothering anybody," said Angela Williams, a resident of the area. "My son was sitting out there with him about an hour ago, but he decided to come in the house, and I thank God he did."

Officers responding to the scene were met by a hostile crowd of about 30 people who shouted at authorities and refused to cooperate, police said. Additional patrol units responded to the area to disperse the crowd and preserve the crime scene, Silva said.

"There was a large crowd yelling at our officers and not getting out of the way, so that's why we had to get on the radio and call for more units," Silva said. "More units arrived, and they were able to move the crowd back so our investigators could come into the scene to investigate exactly what events led up to the shooting."

Silva said investigators were interviewing potential witnesses in an attempt to identify the killer, but authorities did not release a description of the gunman Tuesday.

This is the 12th homicide the Stockton Police Department has investigated this year, down from 32 at this time a year ago.